'O.J.: Made in America' Director Edelman: "Fundamentally the Story Was Going to Be About Race" | Documentary Oscar Roundtable

"What I learned very quickly is how many more things [the film] is about [other than race]," said filmmaker Ezra Edelman during The Hollywood Reporter's Documentary Oscar Roundtable regarding his work O.J.: Made in America. "It's about gender and masculinity, domestic abuse, the criminal justice system, celebrity, the media: it goes on and on."

"As much as it really does explain and encapsulate four or five decades about race in America, it also sort of really speaks to America as a whole and the interconnectedness of all these themes," Edelman told THR.

In addition to tackling these various lofty themes in his eight-hour piece, Edelman added that dealing with the subject matter involving a brutal murder and the ongoing violence between the LAPD and the African-American community of Los Angeles made it so that, "there [was] nothing about this that was fun. But you know that you are telling a history that so needs to be told."

More roundtables featuring actors and actresses, screenwriters, songwriters, directors, composers and producers will continue throughout February in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter starting Jan. 15 on Sundance TV, and look for clips at THR.com/topic/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast.